Certain methods and systems have previously been used for securely storing and sharing confidential information. Some such systems employ cryptography, such as public/private key encryption, to protect information and/or identity management.
Cryptography can provide strong protection, but the key exchange process makes sharing encrypted data clumsy and sometimes insecure. Weak, absent, or disconnected identity verification also degrades the effectiveness.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems, methods, and devices that enable secure exchange of encryption keys among any community of interest. Specifically, a need exists for a system for securely storing and sharing information which manages encryption keys separately from the encrypted information to limit access to underlying information only to those who are authorized and that integrated identity management and verification as part of the process.